Thank God I had illegal cable back then - that was a terrible fight to watch. But Harding gave Jones hell. He really was an excellent fighter but just never took care of himself outside of the ring and eventually he paid for it (against Tarver the second time).
Thank God I had illegal cable back then - that was a terrible fight to watch. But Harding gave Jones hell. He really was an excellent fighter but just never took care of himself outside of the ring and eventually he paid for it (against Tarver the second time).
lol
The best part of that fight for me was when Harding says to his coach that his bicep hurts with a smile on his face, he really looked like he was in pain
The best part of that fight for me was when Harding says to his coach that his bicep hurts with a smile on his face, he really looked like he was in pain
I suspect he wasn't lying. Harding was a pretty tough dude. Was also a big-time drug dealer - and I'm not talking small potatoes on the corner - who couldn't leave the streets alone. Also spent most of his camps losing weight instead of training. The lifestyle eventually caught up to him.
Hiding behind his HBO contract- which basically allowed him to run rampant in picking up millions of dollars at a time- Jones would fight one undeserving mandatory stiff after another.
But when Tarver had elevated himself to the IBF mandatory position in 2000, he had his promoter at the time Murad Muhammad write a letter questioning his attributes as the number one contender. Eventually, the IBF- which has had an ******uous relationship with Muhammad- acquiesced and forced Tarver into a box-off with Harding for the right to face Jones. Harding would beat Tarver in June of 2000( a loss though, that would be avenged a few years later) and Jones was free from having to face Tarver, until he agreed to face him this past Saturday.
Pitty Roy never saw fit to question the credentials of some of the other stiffs he fought Lol.
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